


Classify

by Mansaeboysbe



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, High School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 10:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16173476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mansaeboysbe/pseuds/Mansaeboysbe
Summary: There’s an unspoken hierarchy in the senior class; everyone knows their place and if they know what’s good for them, they stay there. You’re sitting comfortably at the top, but running into a boy with his classmates labeled in folders, including you, could change that.





	Classify

Anyone who said that high school was difficult obviously had never been a popular kid. Because here you were, sitting at the top in every possible way: you had the best grades, were the biggest achiever in sports, and most importantly, you were known and respected by every single person in and outside of your class, and high school was a breeze. It took three years but the results paid off in the end- it was your senior year and you had the title of Prom Queen and Valedictorian locked down in your favor. Everything was perfect, going exactly the way you wanted it to be. Or, so you thought.

That was until a certain Joshua Hong showed up with his folder of secrets and made you an offer you couldn’t resist. And that’s how you ended up here.

“It’s simple, easy, really,” and then he’s unleashing an entire file folder onto your kitchen table, “So first, we start with the jocks-”

“Hold up, data boy.” You take in the hurricane of spreadsheets with a hand pressed to your forehead, “I need a drink before we get started.”

Joshua looks stunned, “You’re drinking in the middle of the day?”

“Lemonade, you dork.” But unlike before, the nickname isn’t meant to be insulting. Joshua visibly relaxes back into his seat, sheepishly smiling, “want one too?”

“Yes, please.”

You come back with two glasses in your hand, setting them onto the table and taking a seat away from where Joshua has begun to apparently sort the papers into piles.

“Is this really everyone in the senior class?”

“Almost,” he scans over the categories before filing a paper into one of them, “I opted out of some people due to a lack of information on them.” He looks up at you and shrugs, “Outsiders and wallflowers, that sort.”

You nod, though you wish you had the ability to think as fast as he did. You may have been smart, and contrary to popular belief, you were actually smart and not just favoring your way into good grades, but Joshua seemed to be on another level. His thought process was more complex, reaching into different levels and building networks and connections faster than your own could. It seemed being good at algebra and being able to break people into groups based on personality were two completely different skills.

“Ok, so the jocks,” Joshua starts again after taking a sip of lemonade, “Most people believe that they’re automatically popular but that’s not always the case. Brian, for example, is the lead quarterback and comfortably sits at position #5 on you weird list.” He shuffles through a few papers until he reaches one near the end of the pile, “On the other hand, there’s Jonah.”

You scrunch up your eyebrows, “Who?”

“Exactly,” Joshua removes the paper and hands it over to you, “He’s a starter, even won the first touchdown of the season, but that’s it. So you have no clue who he is because he didn’t stay in the spotlight.”

You let out a soft “oh,” reading through the pieces of information Joshua has written down. It’s true, he might have sounded familiar earlier in the year, but now you’re not even sure you could pick him out of a crowd.

“Yeah, so…” He slides the paper back over to himself to slip it back into place, “It’s that way for all the other groups. Cheerleaders, theater kids, even within your own elite circle, there’s people I’ve noticed who tend to sit at the edge of the lunch table.”

“So not true!” You glance over to the pile where your own file sits at the top. About eleven pages are underneath yours, and you run through a mental list in your head of every name you guess is in that pile.

“Really?” Josh gets up from his seat opposite to you and grabs the papers, thumbing through them until he reaches the last two, “So you knew Conor and Kenzie would be in this pile.”

Conor and Kenzie, that’s who you were missing! “Yes! Of course, I couldn’t forget them.”

Joshua smirks and immediately you know that was the wrong answer, “Try again, nobody named Conor or Kenzie are even in the senior class.”

You glare at the paper in his hands, trying to possess the power of X-ray vision at that moment. It doesn’t work.

“Alright, fine. I can’t recall two people in our group, that doesn’t mean I completely forgot them.”

“Actually, it’s more than just two.” He suddenly grabs another short stack of papers and pulls a few from the pile you’re at the top of, “In my hand is every single person who sits at your lunch table, save for yourself and your two closest friends. And I bet you couldn’t name a single person here.”

“Oh, really?” You challenge, standing and crossing your arms to face him, “Let’s make a bet then. If I can name every person at that table, you get rid of this weird and incredibly creepy database you’re keeping on the entire senior class and let everything run as it has been, naturally.”

Joshua shuffles the papers in his hands and pushes his glasses up his nose, “And if you can’t?”

“You can take me to prom.”

“What!?”

“Think about it,” you shrug, “A chance to take the most popular girl, much less the valedictorian, to prom. Your nerd friends would flip. You’d be the king of that group.”

Joshua doesn’t say anything for a moment and you begin to wonder if you’d pushed too far. He’s put up with your taunting of his friend group so far, but now you’ve given him the possibility to put himself above him, and you’re not sure just how far he’d be willing to go to-

“Deal.”

Apparently, far enough.

“Ok, so do I just start naming?” Joshua nods for you to go ahead, “So, it’s me, Seungcheol, Seulgi, Jeonghan, Lisa, Jun, Soonyoung, Penny, Wonwoo, Cecilia, and Jihoon.” You smirk at him, “And that’s everyone.”

But Joshua’s still holding one paper, having set the rest down as you named them off.

“So I’m guessing you’ll be texting me with all the details, you seem to be the kind of person who has had this planned out since you were ten.”

“Wait,” you held out your hand to stop him from packing up, “I missed someone?”

“Yep. Now, do you prefer roses or another flower?”  
“There has to be a mistake, I got everyone.” The table in your head had been completely full, eleven chairs like it had always been.

Or was it twelve?

“I have to get going, but feel free to look through the papers tonight. Just give them back to me tomorrow. You might as well study if you want to know your classmates well enough to stay at the top.” Joshua already has his school jacket on and is pocketing his phone, leaving you stumped in your chair. “Oh, and Y/N?” You look up and meet his smirk, “See you at lunch tomorrow.”

He leaves and when you hear the front door close, you launch yourself to the end of the table. You grab the paper he’d set down and flipped it over to find the one name, the person he claimed you’d forgotten sat at your table.

Joshua Hong.

Well, he showed you.

~

The next day, Seungcheol invites you over to his house after school to “hang out.” You decline because you already agreed to meet up with Joshua and continue going over the files, and after yesterday, there’s no way you’re going to cancel on him.

“I have to study,” you pout, trying to slip out of the grip Seungcheol has on your waist.

“C’mon, Y/N, you study enough. Loosen up a little.” His nose dips to nudge at the edge of your chin and you feel his breath puff against your skin, “When was the last time you took a break?”

“Uhm, am I interrupting something?”

You jump back at the familiar voice, though it’s not who you were expecting it to be. Joshua stands a few feet down, clutching the strap of his shoulder bag and glancing between you and the boy who was still attempting to pin you back against the lockers.

“No! No…” you cough, shoving Seungcheol away from you, “ready to go?”

“Oh, I see.” Seungcheol grumbles and you almost roll your eyes, “this is who you’re ‘studying’ with?”

You whip around, “Why don’t you go find Seulgi, Cheol? You know, your girlfriend?” Without another word, you turn back to Joshua, striding toward him and taking his hand, “Let’s go, Josh.”

He gives no protest, just nods his head and lets you pull him out of the school and back to your house.

“Wha-” He starts when you’re outside of school, but you sharply raise your hand to cut him off.

“I do NOT wanna talk about it.”  
The truth was, Seulgi was your best friend. The other truth was, she was Seungcheol’s girlfriend. And the final truth was, Seungcheol had been trying to get with you before they started dating. And if Seulgi ever found out… you didn’t even want to think about it.

“Alright.” Joshua settles with, frustratingly, getting no answer, and sets his bag down on the kitchen table, “Look over any of these last night?”

“A few,” you mutter, running a hand through your hair, “there are a lot more people in our class than I realized.

“You’re not going to get everyone,” Joshua admits, taking a seat and reorganizing a few papers so they’re back in orderly stacks, “but at least now you’re getting somewhat of a wider view instead of the tunnel vision you’ve given yourself.”

“Why are you so keen on helping me anyway?”

You remembered back to the day when you first really noticed Joshua, though it took running into him in the hall to do it. You’d been out on a hall pass, coming back from talking with Seungcheol and Seulgi for a few minutes instead of staying in class when you turned a corner and ran smack into Joshua. Coincidentally, or maybe it was fate, he had been in the library, having finished printing the last files for his database and was rushing back to class. The folder had gone flying, papers full of information sliding across the floor and creating a mess in the hallway. You’d bent down to help, collecting a few before finding the paper with Seulgi’s name at the top. A few more and there was Seungcheol. And then you.

In his defense, Joshua hadn’t meant for anyone to find out. It was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time that led to you shoving the papers into his face, demanding why your best friends were recorded and being kept in a file folder being carried by him, a seemingly nobody at the time. It was then he’d offered you the deal: Tell no one that he had this database, and he’d help make sure your spot at the top was secured even past graduation.

“You’re relatable.” It’s all the answer he gives and he says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. When you don’t speak, he continues, “You’re incredibly well rounded, despite the stereotype. I don’t believe the rumors that say you blackmailed your way into being good at everything, it just seems like a part of your personality. Sure, you’re incredibly narrow-minded and oblivious-”

“Hey!”

“BUT,” he shoots you a pointed look and you pout, staying quiet nonetheless, “you’re still considerate of the people you do take notice of, and you strive to set a good example. Plus, you’re pretty damn smart.”

“That doesn’t answer my question though, why me?”

“If anyone is going to be the queen of the senior class, I’m glad it’s someone who’s actually looking out for us. And if I can get you to take note of some of the people you’ve been ignoring out of ignorance, then I’ll have done something good as well.”

You stared at him for a moment, waiting to see him start laughing or give any indication that he was messing with you. It never comes.

“Are you crying?”

“No!” You squeak, going to rub your eyes discreetly, “I mean, that wasn’t just the most incredible thing anyone has ever said about me.”

“Alright, drama queen,” he sighs, but he’s still smiling.

“Josh,” you whine, “that was beautiful! Have you always thought about me like that?”

“I take back everything I said.”

You pouted, sticking out your bottom lip and everything, and Joshua went back to shuffling through the papers. The study session resumed as it normally did, with you flipping through files and taking in the members of the senior class that you’d somehow been blind to the whole year. His words weren’t forgotten though, and something in your heart stirred when you realized that it really was the most incredible thing anyone had ever said about you.

~

It’s a week and a half before prom, and everything has gone to shit.

“You whore!” Seulgi’s voice echoes down the not-empty-enough hallway, and everyone turns to stare.

“Seulgi, please, listen-”

“No, you listen, Y/N!” She storms over, phone gripped tight in her hand, “I know you always get what you want, but did that really have to include my boyfriend? Your best friend’s boyfriend?”

Despite what Seulgi and everyone else in the senior class believes, you had not encouraged Seungcheol’s behavior. Everything, from the sweet gestures such as buying you lunch to the inappropriate things he requested from you, was all on his own accord, and promptly rejected by you when they came up. The final straw had been when Seungcheol decided kissing you was the best move to really win you over, especially in the middle of the hallway on the day Seulgi was at a doctor’s appointment. And while you had immediately pushed him off and ran to find Joshua, the photos uploaded to every social media account were of Seungcheol pinning you to the locker with his tongue practically down your throat.

“You know, I have been nothing but nice to you.” Seulgi is almost to the point of tears and you’re caught between wanting to comfort her and wanting to shake her so she’ll listen to you, “and this is how you repay me. We’ve been best friends since elementary school, and all I get in return is you trying to screw my boyfriend behind my back.”

You sigh, praying to every deity that someone will come to your rescue and sort this all out. But no one appears, and Seulgi is still weeping.

“Y/N, I hope you know that no matter how many friends you think you had, none of them will think this was acceptable either. I’m sorry for you, I really am, if you thought that being popular meant you were untouchable.”

“That’s literally not even-”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Seulgi sighs, shaking her head, “It was nice while it lasted. But please, just stay away from Seungcheol. In fact, it might be better if you just didn’t hang around us at all. We don’t know who you’ll go after next.”

It stung, no, it burned to hear someone you cared about treat you like you weren’t worth anything. Seulgi was throwing away years of friendship, late summer nights and inside jokes that were still funny years later because of one misconception. And she was choosing Seungcheol over you. Go figure.

She walked away with her phone clenched in her hand, the photo still brightly displayed on the screen, everyone staring after her before turning to you and whispering to each other. You stood there, unmoving, unwilling to accept everything that had just happened. It was funny, in a way, you could feel your empire crumbling around you, each whisper tearing down a brick and adding to Seulgi’s, as she was next in line for the throne.

But the real kicker, the good ol’ nail in the coffin, was seeing Joshua at the end of the hallway, staring at you, with his phone in his hand. And you already knew.

The final surprise of the day was the knock on your front door after school when you had already collapsed onto your bed and were contemplating the different ways you could change identities and escape the city and start somewhere new.

“Y/N? Someone from school is here to see you,” Your mother leaned out of the doorway to whisper something to the person behind her, “A Joshua?”

“Mom, do you just let any random person who says they know me in?” But you turned over and sat up anyway, waving them in. Joshua hovered in the doorway, thanking your mother before looking around and setting his bag on the floor next to your desk and taking a seat in the chair.

“If you’ve come to lecture me-”

“It’s not that.” Joshua stops you before you can even start, “I just wanted to… I believe you.”

“What?”

“Everyone else seems to be on Seulgi’s side, about you betraying her, but I believe you.”

“You don’t have to pity me, Josh.”

“It’s not pity, Y/N.” He scoots forward in the chair and leans his elbows onto his knees, “I heard what Seungcheol said a few times, I saw you decline him and push him away, and he kept coming back. I believe you.”

You groaned, rubbing a hand over your face, “You’re the only one.”

“Does popularity mean that much to you?”

Glancing between your fingers, you saw Joshua staring at you, “This isn’t about popularity.”

“It’s about losing favor with your classmates.”

“Yes… well, no. Kind of?” You groaned again, “I’m losing Sulgi, and Seung- well actually, I don’t mind losing Seungcheol all that much, but I’m losing Penny, and Lisa, and Jun, and Jeonghan, and-”

“You’re just naming the people who sit with you at lunch.”

“They’re still my friends.”

“They were followers.”

“Well, what about you, huh?” You sat forward, “You just sit at our lunch table without saying anything, like you’re having fun just sitting with the cool kids or something.”

“If you would pay attention,” his voice rose slightly and it’s the first time you’d gotten that reaction from him, “I’m actually friends with Jeonghan, Jun, and Jihoon. That’s why I sit there.”

“They were my friends too!”

“Y/N, they were extensions. If they were really your friends, they wouldn’t have turned on you the minute Seulgi told them too.”

“Seulgi’s just convincing everyone, nobody’s willing to see my side or listen to what I have to- oh.”

There was the point Joshua was trying to make.

“So… I never had friends to begin with.”

“Well,” Joshua shrugged, “you have one.”

You smiled, dropping your hands back to your lap, “…thanks.”

“I’ll ask again, is this about popularity?”

“It’s all I have, Josh. Ever since freshman year, it’s what I’ve been working towards. Maybe it sounds selfish and cliche but being popular was the only thing I had going for me. Knowing that every single person knew who I was, whether they were into athletics, science, poetry, they knew who I was. They may not have liked me but if I passed by them in the hallway, I’d pass through their mind too. I wasn’t just another faceless person in the crowd, people actually cared. And isn’t that what everyone wants?”

Joshua slowly stood and moved to sit on the bed, keeping some distance between you until you scooted over and patted the space beside you. He swung his legs up and situated himself before turning back towards you.

“If you think about it, you’re more popular than you were before. Everyone knows who you are now, Seulgi is telling everyone who will, or won’t probably, listen to her sob story.”

“Yeah, but now I’m not the helpful, bubbly, kind popular girl. I’m just a bitch.”

“Maybe to the students who believe Seulgi. But the real people, the people who matter, they’ll still be on your side.”

Sighing, you reached over and hesitantly took Joshua’s hand into your own. He was surprised at first, but you knew he was always one to comfort people. When you pulled his hand into your lap to play with his fingers, you continued.

“What do I have left? If I’m going to be hated by most of the people in school, what can I do?”

“Well, you’re still at the top of the class, GPA-wise. Seulgi can’t take that from you. And I’m sure the math geeks don’t care what you did or didn’t do with Seungcheol, you can beat all of them in Algebra relays, so you’re practically a god.”

“Really?” you giggled.

“Really. And you’re still amazing at basketball, that won’t change with rumors, so they’d still let you play in the intramurals and you’d have fans there.”

“What about prom?”

Joshua’s arm tensed but you refused to look up at him, “What about it?”

“Prom Queen. There’s no way I’m getting that now.”

“I mean,” his fingers squeezed yours and you allowed yourself to look over, only to find him already staring at you with a soft smile. Had his eyes always been this beautiful, or were you just seeing them for the first time? “Prom could still be fun, Prom Queen title or not.”

“You still want to go?”

“I won a bet, remember?” Something impish sparkled in his iris, “I wouldn’t think you to be someone who would back out of a bet.”

You tried to smirk, though it seemed to be outshone by the giddiness you also felt, “Oh, I’m not. You bet we’re still going to prom.”

“Good.” He suddenly lifted your intertwined hands to press a kiss to your fingers, “I’m guessing you’ll still text me the details?”

“S-sure.” And then he was getting up, picking his bag up again, but he stopped before he got to your doorway.

“Remember what I said, the people who really matter will be there for you no matter what.” He was out with a wave a moment later, leaving you to sit on your bed and contemplate the advice he’d just given you.

~

Contrary to stereotype, high school prom wasn’t all it was hyped up to be. For one thing, you didn’t end up going with a huge group in a limo like you’d always imagined, but going to get Chinese with Joshua in his Honda Civic ended up being even better, especially when you were half an hour late to the dance because you stopped to get cake beforehand. And when you got there, all eyes might have been on you, though you’d never expected the scowls and whispers to come with it. Yet, Joshua stayed right beside you the entire night, a reassuring arm around your waist as he led you out to the dance floor and tried to cheer you up with his dance skills. Or in this case, lack thereof. It worked, in that moment, you were laughing too much at Joshua’s attempts to care about Seulgi and the others. That is until it came time to announce the Prom Court winners.

“So you didn’t win.” Joshua slid into the chair next to you, resting his elbow on the table so he could look at you with his cheek balanced in his hand.

“Yep,” you kicked your feet lightly, ruffling the skirt of your long dress, “just as we predicted.”

He softly smiled, tapping his finger to the bass of the pop song playing, “I’m kind of proud of you though.”

You looked up, “Why?”

“You seemed genuinely happy when Seulgi won and got the crown you wanted.”

“I… I was.” Joshua tilts his head slightly, “She wanted it just as badly as I did. And if she thought that I had tried to steal her boyfriend from her, maybe she needed the victory to feel validated. It sucks, don’t get me wrong, but at least she’s happy.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing, I just… I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to be angry at her.”

“I don’t see the point in that. So I didn’t get Prom Queen. It’s over. Done. Throwing a pity party won’t do anything, so why bother?”

Suddenly, Joshua got up, holding out his hand for you to take as he had on several occasions during the night. You accepted, smiling when he used the leverage of pulling you to your feet to also pull you closer to him.

“You’re still a queen to me.”

“Ugh, gross, Hong, really? That just, like, ruined everything.”

But the two of you were giggling, his arms wrapped around your waist while yours were around his neck, slightly swaying to a song that was too repetitive to be a slow song.

“I got rid of them, by the way.”

“Your database?” He nodded, “How come?”

“It was weird. Kinda creepy.”

“I’ll say.”

“Hey,” He squeezed around your middle and you giggled, scooting closer to him and ducking your head into his chest, “but I think… it wasn’t fair. I thought before that maybe I could condense everyone down into a system, that through organizing and enough information, I could have everyone figured out. But humans are more complex than that. Personalities run deeper than tests and charts, and by just putting someone’s outwardly traits into some adjectives, that can’t even begin to describe everything they are…”

You were already staring up at him when he looked down, and you raised up on your toes as much as you could in heels.

“Joshua Hong?”

“Yes?”

“You’re a nerd.”

You pulled him down the rest of the way to close the small amount of space between you, crashing his lips against yours. The music, the crowd, everything seemed to fade away when he started to kiss you back, soft lips moving against yours in a melody that was all your own. It was short, cut off by a few snickers and a cough from a nearby chaperone that had the two of you breaking apart almost immediately, but that didn’t mean you let go. If anything, Joshua had brought you even closer to himself.

“I’m really glad I was right about that, I was worried you didn’t like me back.”

“I’m glad that my feelings towards you didn’t go unnoticed.”

“Out of everything, at least I wasn’t oblivious towards that,” you giggled.

“I can’t believe you didn’t realize I sat at your lunch table, I was there for the entire year.”

You rolled your eyes, bringing him closer into you again. “Shut up,” you mumbled, before pulling him in for another kiss.


End file.
